Let me just start by saying that I could eat this tart every day of the week and be a very happy camper. Of course, my doctor might have something to say about a diet that consisted of wedge after wedge of this deliciousness, but I'm just sayin'.
Look, I love chard just simply sauteed with a little garlic, some EVOO and maybe a few red pepper flakes, but the kids…..not so much. They are much more liable to snarf down this super-nutritious veggie if surrounded by a buttery crust, some melted goat cheese, and a few chunks of pork sausage.
Hey, can you blame them?
Given that chard was one of the few real superstars in our home garden this year, I've been searching for lots of different ways to include it in our diet. This recipe, which is my adaptation of "My Pantry Shelf's" award winning recipe from the awesome Food52, was a huge hit with our gang, and was even better reheated for breakfast and lunch the next day.
I worked up the from scratch pastry crust on my own, then had Boris help me by washing, stemming and chopping the chard, then cooking off the sausage prior to filling the tart shell.
The original recipe calls for kale and ricotta cheese, but chard is what we had, and we decided to use a lovely Norwegian goat cheese called Snofrisk, that I won recently as part of a giveway at my friend Greg's blog "SippitySup".
The crust was a dream to work with, even though I rolled mine out thinner than the original recipe calls for given that I was using a larger tart shell. The filling, a luscious blend of flavors and textures that is just held together by the egg so that it actually feels much more like a veggie tart than an "eggy" quiche. Play with this dish by using different greens like spinach or kale, cheeses such as cheddar or gruyere, and sausage made with lamb or chicken……the possibilities are endless!
Cheers – Steve
Ingredients
Tart Shell:
- 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled
- 1 pinch salt
- 3-4 tablespoons ice water
Sausage and Kale Filling:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large sweet onion, minced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pound Italian sausage (we used 1/2 pound sweet, 1/2 pound hot)
- 2 bunches chard (or kale), washed, stemmed and roughly chopped (10 cups packed)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup fresh basil, cut into thin strips
- 2 large eggs
- 6 ounces soft goat cheese (or another soft cheese like feta or ricotta)
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme, finely minced
- 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
- kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
for the tart shell:
- Preheat oven to 400℉
- Cut the butter into small cubes, then place in the freezer for a few minutes to chill.
- Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until butter is pea-sized.
- Slowly drizzle water through the top of the food processor while pulsing. You have added enough water when dough just starts to fall away from the side of the hopper, and sticks together when pressed.
- Remove dough from processor and press gently into a disc. Wrap disc in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
- Remove dough from refrigerator and unwrap. Place disc on a lightly floured surface.
- Roll dough into a circle 14 inches in diameter. Place dough in 12 inch tart pan with removable bottom.
- Dock dough with a fork.
- Lay parchment paper or foil over dough and fill with beans or pie weights.
- Blind bake the tart shell (with pie weights) for 20 minutes. Then remove parchment and weights and bake an additional 5 minutes until the crust begins to brown.
- Remove from oven and set aside on cooling rack.
for the filling:
- Heat oil and butter in pan on medium heat.
- Add onion and garlic and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook until onions are soft and light brown. Season with salt and pepper. Remove onions from pan and set aside.
- Increase heat to medium and add sausage to pan. Brown sausage and break into small pieces. Remove sausage from pan and set aside. Drain all but 1 Tablespoon of oil from pan.
- Add chopped chard to the pan. Pour the white wine over the chard. Scrape any browned sausage bits from the pan and cover. Cook 3-5 minutes, until chard is wilted. Season with salt and pepper. If chard is still very wet, cook uncovered for a minute or two. The overall mixture should be fairly dry. Remove kale to a large strainer and press to extract any excess moisture.
- Toss cooked chard with cooked sausage and onions. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Toss mixture with basil, egg, pine nuts, and goat cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Spoon sausage and chard mixture into cooked tart shell. Be sure to evenly cover the bottom of the tart shell. Bake the tart on a baking tray for 10-15 minutes at 400 degrees.
- Remove tart from oven when the filling is set and the tart shell is nicely brown. Cool tart slightly on a wire rack.
- Slice and serve with a big green salad.